


Hang on with both hands

by Urdnot Wrecks (touchstone2015)



Category: The Technomancer (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 23:10:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9520133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/touchstone2015/pseuds/Urdnot%20Wrecks
Summary: You find yourself thinking about Andrew.You really want to get closer to him, but you don’t know how best to do it.Fortunately, you get some good advice from an unexpected source.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains a few spoilers for the second chapter of The Technomancer.
> 
> One of your first missions in Ophir is to kill a band of deserters, whose leader is Boris Ward.  
> Dave Ward is one of your early companions, the soldier who fights guardian-style (with a mace and shield).  
> If they both survive, you’ll find them (separately) on the balcony in Dandolo’s palace during the “Under Threat” quest, and they’ll respond to you.
> 
> In Abundance, folk are given family names that correspond to their work, and the military family name is Ward.  
> So there’s no reason to assume that Boris and Dave are in any way related.

It’s a balmy night in Noctis, and you’re heading to your room after a long tiring day.  
You’ve left Andrew near the sandsails; he’s exhausted too, having been your companion all day.

Andrew.  
Somehow thinking about him makes you smile.  
You think back over the events of the day: catching his eye during a vicious fight with an ASC elite soldier; laughing over some stupid story whilst having a quick snack; worrying over him when the fight is over and you can’t spot him, only to find he’s been standing just behind you.  
You feel close to him, of course, because you are both technomancers; and you know you were both at school together, though you remember very little of him then.

But there’s a feeling you have about him that you can’t quite explain.  
Somehow he’s sneaked into your mind and he’s not going away.  
He’s the first person you think of when waking, the last you think about as you drift off to sleep. If there’s a chance for the two of you to be together, you take it.

You’re not watching where you’re going, and you almost bump into someone in Abundance military uniform.  
It takes you few moments to realise who it is. And you’re astonished.  
“Dave?”

You’d spared Dave Ward’s life even though he was spying on you for the ASC.  
Dave seems as surprised as you are.  
“Lieutenant? What? You left Ophir too?”

“With the ASC on my ass, yeah.”

There’s a look of recognition on Dave’s face, of sympathy.  
“I’m sorry to hear that. I still owe you my life.  
Been here long?”

“Had to leave just after we’d, er, said goodbye. They’d got Jeffrey to try to stop me; he was wearing some suit that resisted my technomancy. Eventually got the better of him.  
Still alive as far as I know; I stopped Niesha putting a bullet in him.”

“You’re a real one for letting people live, ain’t you, Lieutenant?”

“Well it’s part of technomancer code, I guess.”

“Hey, you know another guy you spared is here? Boris Ward? The Boris who led the deserters?”

“He made it here? No, not seen him yet.”

There’s a sparkle and warmth to Dave as he talks about Boris.  
“He’s a great guy, remember him from when he and I were... working together.”

You realise you’re glad to see Dave again. Dave had said he might have liked you in another time and place; maybe that time and place is now and here.  
“How did you end up here?”

“Well after you rumbled me, had to find a way out. Went over to Fiorello, the merchant in the Exchange. Seen him helping you get people away from Ophir.”

“Good guy; real helpful when he realised I was a dab hand with a mace. Merchants are always wanting folk for security. Not too many desert bandits, but plenty of angry wildlife to deal with.  
So it was real easy for me to get transport in return for providing a bit of muscle.”

“Most of the time the transport’s straightforward. So just help out a bit on board the sandsails and shoot the breeze.

“That’s how I got to know Andrew; he was travelling with Fiorello.  
Found ourselves becalmed one day of strong sun, couldn’t move or leave the shade of the craft. So we chatted a bit, and got to know each other, and chatted some more. Think he must have recognised me as a friend; he told me his story, and a lot of yours as well.

“You realise that guy had a crush on you back at the school?  
His daydreaming about you caused the explosion: he wasn’t watching his fluid level carefully enough. Suppose it was one way of sweeping you off your feet.”

Holy shit. You’d had no idea about this at all.

Dave sees the surprise on your face, but he smiles gently.  
“It’s okay, Lieutenant. Andrew said he thought you’d not remember.”

There’s another pause, then Dave begins again.  
“Another reason Andrew and I could chat so easily is we’d both loved a special guy. His guy was you... mine was Boris.”

“What? You had an affair with your sergeant?”

“Well, Boris was a sergeant, but not mine. We were in separate units; but Boris was picking small teams of fighters for tactical work. I think it was the way I handled my mace that first caught his eye. 

“Great man to serve under. Always interested in his folk. Just like Andrew, he made you feel you belonged, and that you were worth it. Everyone who served with him felt as I did.

“As he got to know me, I got selected for smaller and smaller parties.  
Just the two of us were providing muscle for a scouting mission into Aurora; never found out what was really going on.  
But we had a day when the team was away and we just had to watch the rover. Boris was never one for being at a distance when off-duty; and there’s no way we’d have been on-duty in so remote a place.  
So we just started talking. And then we talked some more. And we found we liked each other.

“He knew I liked a drink so he suggested we went to The Curiosity’s.  
Found it strange: hardly felt thirsty when I was around him.  
We’d meet, and sure we’d have a few beers; but mostly we’d talk.  
Got to tell him all about myself.  
First man I’d ever met who made me feel that I mattered, that I was worth something.

“Got into the custom of calling our meetings ‘mission briefings’.  
Boris would drop me a card saying ‘Mission briefing 1900’ and we’d meet.  
After a while, I’d be over the moon when one of these cards appeared in my pigeon-hole; and I’d feel crushed if I got one saying ‘Briefing cancelled’.

“Mentioned my feelings to Boris one night at the bar.  
He looked down a second, and then he looked up, sort of shy, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.  
And then, quite softly as if he was embarrassed, he said ‘I love you, too’.

“Couldn’t fucking believe what I was hearing. But the truth of it hit me like a train.

“Left The Curiosity’s and I steered us into a dark corner, and I turned and I took him in my arms and I kissed the mouth off the fucker.  
Never done that to a guy before, but I’ve never regretted it.

“Family never knew about me and Boris: don’t think they could have coped with a son who also wanted to do it with guys.  
Didn’t want to be done on a charge of fraternisation, either of us.  
So had to keep it to ourselves, be real careful.

“Sometimes managed to make out in the showers if we were on a joint mission.

“Easiest for us to meet at The Curiosity’s. Folk think soldiers are heavy drinkers, so who’d suspect? Didn’t drink that much. Just wanted to be together.  
We just looked as if we were buddies drinking, but we’d manage to touch under the table.  
Remember one time sitting there both looking as innocent as could be while Boris got his hand busy inside my flies.

“We were both posted to the front, and for about six weeks we hardly even seen each other. That’s war you know?  
When we got back to Ophir, went straight to The Curiosity’s and booked a room. First time we'd ever been able to share a bed.  
Never left that room all day.  
Both of us dog-tired, but we weren’t doing any sleeping.

“Hell, we were both so sore afterwards. But it was so fucking worth it.  
I’d do just about anything to have him ride me one more time like he did back then.  
We loved each other, you know?

“Then the ASC showed up. Knew about me and Boris. Logs, forensics, the works.  
Even had the fucking bedsheets from The Curiosity’s.  
Remember I told you those shits said they wouldn’t hurt my family?  
The family they were talking about was me and Boris.  
The ASC would leave us alone if we both spied for them. Or so they said: neither of us really believed them.

“Boris went AWOL almost at once. Lots of his troops were just as pissed with the ASC as we were and joined him.  
Boris wanted me to come with him, and I sure as hell wanted to; but I couldn’t leave my folks: my sister had died and I was all they had.

“So Boris and I got torn apart.  
I knuckled down, did what the ASC told me, reported on you.  
But I hated those fuckers from the bottom of my heart.  
From then on, I still went to The Curiosity’s: but I was just drowning the shitstorm that my life had become.

“Saw Boris again when they sent you to bring him in.  
I swear, if you’d killed that man, I’d have beaten you to death where you stood.  
I’d have killed Boris myself if he’d been arrested, rather than have him die in some fucking ASC torture chamber, with them grinning as he takes his last breath through broken teeth.

“And then the two of us meet up here!  
He was busy arranging veteran transfers with the other folk who deserted.  
I was running security for merchants.  
So we weren’t always here at the same time.  
But we found ourselves with a couple days where we weren’t working, and I thought, why not? And I suggested to Boris we meet for a chat.  
And we found ourselves talking about what happened between us in Ophir and since.

“We were on the balcony, just like we are now, shooting the breeze. Boris had to go off or something.

“Didn’t hesitate: before he left I reached across and put my hand on his shoulder.  
And he turned and looked me full in the face. Neither of us said anything; didn’t need to.  
Don’t know what the future holds, Lieutenant, but I have hopes. Think he does, too.  
We need more time. But there’s plenty time here, and we know we’re safe from the ASC, and we’re not in the military now.

“You need some extra muscle to sort out those ASC shits, you let me and Boris know, right? We’ve a score to settle.

“So what about you and Andrew, Lieutenant?”

“There’s not really much to say.”

“At the minute, maybe, yeah. But I’ve seen the way you are when he’s near.  
And you watch him like he’s something real precious.  
And I’ve seen the way he looks at you.

“There’s not much love in the world, Lieutenant.  
Specially not for men like us.  
If you find it, hang on to it with both hands.

“You go to Andrew, you talk to him, let him know how you feel.

Dave’s voice becomes harsh, but there’s a twinkle in his eyes and a smile at the corners of his mouth.  
“You have your mission, Lieutenant.  
It’s a mission you must not fuck up under any circumstances, am I clear Lieutenant?”

You look at Dave and suddenly realise you really like the man. You stand up straight.  
“Yes, sir.”

“Well get to it.”

You turn away from Dave and think about where Andrew might be; probably still down at the sandsails.

You run through the palace, hurtle down the ladder as fast as you dare.  
Andrew’s standing looking down over the valley with his back to you.

You feel like running at full pelt towards him, but that’s for another time: as Dave says, you must not fuck this up.  
You realise you’re smiling as you approach the man.

“Hey.”

Andrew turns. He looks so fucking gorgeous in the soft light from the city.  
He, too, is smiling just that little bit.  
“Hey back.”

“I... I’m really happy you’re here. With us... with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dave Ward had always struck me as being an interesting character. He’s often making sarcastic remarks about Zach and technomancers generally; but he’s occasionally very sympathetic (to military folk in particular, but also to folk who’ve been sterilised after having mutant children).
> 
> So I started wondering what was going on inside him. As I drafted this fic, it just seemed to grow.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it.


End file.
